Freshman in a Hurry to Be Her All-Around Best

Megan Berry doesn’t take anything for granted.

Being the top all-around performer for the Cal State Fullerton women’s gymnastics team as a freshman doesn’t mean she can count on that kind of success all four years of college.

And that’s one reason she wants to do well in the Big West Conference meet Saturday night in Titan Gym. Berry also is a top contender for a berth in the NCAA West Regional.

In gymnastics, an injury can make your next meet your last.

“It’s not like some other of the sports where you can redshirt a year and then come back easily after an injury,” Berry said. “In gymnastics, it seems like you’re getting old in the sport by the time you’re a sophomore.”

Berry is aware of what happened to two other outstanding Titan gymnasts.

Alexis Lott was the Big West’s co-gymnast of the year in 1995 as a sophomore after winning the uneven bars and finishing second in the all-around in the conference meet. She sat out the next season after a knee surgery and was never the same. She had to retire because of recurring knee problems.

Katy Maty won the conference’s all-around championship and was gymnast of the year as a sophomore in 1997. However, she injured her left knee in the conference meet on her dismount from the balance beam, her final event.

It turned out to be her last meet for the Titans. She sat out the 1998 season, developed back problems and retired.

Julie Knight, the Titans’ associate head coach, says what happened to Lott and Maty is not the norm in college gymnastics, but says it is a daunting challenge for a gymnast to compete in the all-around all for four years because of the demands of four events.

“But it can be done, and I think Megan can do it,” Knight said. “She’s strong and powerful, and that helps her a lot. She’s competed in all four events in every meet we’ve had this year, and that’s been impressive. She’s held up well.”

Berry said she wants to make the most of every opportunity, beginning this season.

“I’d like to win the Big West this year, and I think I have a chance,” she said.

Two of Boise State’s all-around gymnasts have had better scores than Berry, but Knight expects Berry to be a leading contender.

Berry said this season has been a pleasant surprise. “It’s gone a lot better than I expected,” she said. “I had no idea that I could be the team’s top all-arounder my first year.”

Berry has been solid in all four events, but her best performances have come on the uneven bars and in floor exercise. She had a 9.75 score on the bars at one meet and a 9.65 at another. She received scores of 9.725 three times in floor exercise.

“I’ve really enjoyed this season because of the camaraderie of competing for a team,” Berry said. “My goal always has been to compete in college. Everyone dreams of competing in the Olympics, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen, and competing in college became the big thing for me.

“It’s been nice having crowds for meets. In club gymnastics, it’s only the families mostly who are there. And in college it’s great knowing that you’re helping your team’s score with everything you do.”

Berry, who is from Mesa, Ariz., came from the same club team in Scottsdale, Ariz.--the Desert Devils--that Maty did. “My mother and I moved there just so I could be in that program,” Berry said.

A friend of her family, former Titan gymnast Krickitt Pappas, recommended she consider Fullerton. “She really liked it here,” Berry said.

Berry chose the Titans over Ohio State and Arizona, and it has turned out to be a good match.

“She’s contributed big time this season,” Knight said.

WRESTLERS STUMBLE

The Titans scored only 2 1/2 points in last week’s NCAA Wrestling Championships to finish 48th, leaving Coach Ardeshir Asgari “the most disappointed I’ve been in my seven years as head coach.”

The Titans won only two matches--one by Jason Webster and the other by Babbak Nejadmaghaddam--and 1998 All-American Joey Coughran lost both his matches at 141 pounds against unseeded wrestlers. Coughran finished eighth at 126 pounds last season.

“That was probably Joey’s worst meet of his life,” Asgari said. “I don’t know what the problem was, but he didn’t wrestle well. He had beaten two of the wrestlers during the regular season who finished in the top eight.”

Asgari said Coughran’s move to a heavier weight class this year might have been a factor. “Both the guys he wrestled were bigger than him,” Asgari said. “He’s going to have to get stronger in the off-season, or we’re going to have to consider him moving to a lighter weight class.”

Asgari thought Webster turned in the best effort of the three. “He lost to two wrestlers who were seeded,” Asgari said. “He got a bad draw.”

HOME HAPPY

The Titan baseball team hit 13 home runs in its first 23 games but had 14 in last weekend’s three-game Big West Conference series at Sacramento State.

“I think it was a combination of their pitching and our hitters doing well, but it was a surprise to us,” Coach George Horton said. “That ballpark isn’t that small.”

Sophomore Aaron Rifkin hit his first three homers of the season in the series, and freshman infielder Shawn Norris got his first two. Norris, normally a shortstop, played second base with David Bacani still sidelined with a sprained ankle.

“The way Norris played second was encouraging,” Horton said. “It shows again the depth we have this season.”

Bacani is expected back for this weekend’s home series against Nevada, but third baseman Ryan Moore will be out three to six more weeks with a broken bone in his right hand. Ryan Owens has taken over at third and Chad Olszanski has replaced Owens at shortstop.